Mayfly — printable fact sheet

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Mayfly

Ephemera danica

Mayflies (order Ephemeroptera) are the oldest winged insects still alive, a lineage stretching back over 300 million years, and they retain an anatomical feature no other living insect has: they moult after their wings are fully formed. The winged sub-adult, called a subimago or…

Classification

Invertebrate

Family

Ephemeridae

Habitat

Freshwater streams and rivers

Diet

Herbivore (larvae); non-feeding (adults)

Conservation status

Least Concern

Lifespan

1-3 years (nymph stage), a few hours to a few days (adult)

Weight

0.01–0.03 grams

Scientific name

Ephemera danica

Did you know?

Some mayfly species' entire adult lives last less than 24 hours, making them some of the shortest-lived animals on Earth.
Mayfly swarms in Wisconsin have appeared on National Weather Service radar as a returning green mass and have caused car accidents by making bridge surfaces slick with crushed insects. Male mayflies have divided eyes, with an extra upward-facing "turban" portion used to spot females silhouetted against the sky during mating swarms. Trout fly-fishing is largely built on imitating this insect, and separate artificial flies exist for the nymph, the dun and the spinner because trout treat the three stages as different prey.

What I learned

Draw the mayfly

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